Consumed by the Darkness: The Archaeological Assemblages Uncovered During the 2011 Excavation Season at the Kataphygadi Cave, on Kythera (original) (raw)
An excavation conducted by the Ephorate for Palaeoanthropology and Speleology in 2011 at the Kataphygadi Cave on the Myrminkaris ridge in western Kythera has identifi ed evidence of human activity in two separate periods-Late Minoan IB/Late Helladic IIA and Late Helladic IIIB-early Late Helladic IIIC-and documented the stratigraphy, and associated pottery, lithics, faunal and plant remains, as well as secondary burials. Although earlier topographical and archaeological studies had located the site and commented on the presence of archaeological remains, this study represents the fi rst systematic excavation within two chambers of the cave, presenting detailed discussion of the geology, geomorphology, topography, formation processes, and archaeology. The paper explores possible functions of the cave in the Bronze Age and its contextual relationship to cult and burial caves on Crete and mainland Greece, and engages methodological problems of interpreting the evidence of depositional practices derived from excavation.
Related papers
The Ayia Triadha cave excavation project aims to explore early maritime connections in the Aegean during the Late Neolithic I and II and the Early Bronze Age. The cave lies in a strategic position close to the crossroads that connect insular regions and the mainland. We also aim to explore the manifestations of the so-called Saliagos culture of the Cyclades and the Aegean. This culture is connected to the White-on-Dark pottery horizon (late sixth to early fifth millennium B.C.) found in the cave. The Final Neolithic/LNIIa material is also present in the cave in large quantities. It is closely connected to the Attica-Kephala horizon (late fifth/fourth millennium B.C.) known from the Cyclades and the southern part of mainland Greece. Of great importance is the identification of an Early Bronze Age burial context, located inside a small chamber, off the main entrance corridor. Although some scattered evidence for EBA burials exists in the area further north towards the town of Styra, t...
Journal of Greek Archaeology
Since the occupation of caves became recognised as a specific feature of the Late and Final Neolithic in Greece, widely differing interpretations have been offered. Schematically, the balance shifted from a purely pragmatic interpretation – caves were used as domestic places in the context of increasing pastoralism – to a mostly or purely ritual interpretation. However, as illustrated by a recent publication devoted to the use of caves, the question is far from settled. Yet, to better understand the status of LN/FN caves, or, more precisely, to better grasp how difficult it is to understand it, a key element was missing: the detailed publication of Alepotrypa Cave, in the Mani. More than any other cave site, Alepotrypa, with its apparently domestic occupations, wealth of human remains and exceptional deposits, epitomises the impossibility to draw a clear-cut opposition between the mundane and the ritual, the polis and the necropolis. Paradoxically, Alepotrypa raises not such much th...
Loading Preview
Sorry, preview is currently unavailable. You can download the paper by clicking the button above.
Related papers
A. Sarris, E. Kalogiropoulou, T. Kalayci, L. Karimali (eds.), Communities, Landscapes and Interaction in Neolithic Greece, Proceedings of the International Conference, Rethymno 29-30 May, 2015. International Monographs in Prehistory, Archaeological Series 20, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 247-260.247-260, 2017